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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

This is a guest post from Sparky, ofSpark in Darkness.
Many of you are familiar with him from Livejournal, as well
as from his insightful and often hilarious commentary here.
Each Tuesday, Womanist Musings will be featuring a post from
Sparky.

One thing GBLT people are often
told when we face discrimination or violence or hate is that we should
have gone to the police. This is often closely followed by urging us
to go to the media.

Sadly, this advice is both naïve and privileged
(and kind of assumes we’re not all that bright as well). I have gone
to the police on numerous occasions when facing violence, harassment
and that damn car-keying note leaver (I have a near book of these snide
little things, I may bind it and sell it as an ode to pettiness. If
nothing else, them suing me for the royalties might actually reveal
their sorry selves). It has not been helpful. The amount of studied
indifference is pretty stunning. I always have the nagging feeling I’m
going to be charged with wasting police time for breathing the same
air as them.

From domestic violence, to street harassment
to being put in the hospital to having my big box full of nasty little
notes the general response has been a strong sense of “is there a
reason you’re telling me this? Here’s a crime number, go away annoying
person”. I’ve met the same when accompanying those of my friends
who have bothered to report to the police – all of them have
had reason to, very few of them have bothered to do so. And the victim
blaming is strong. “Did you touch him?” (no, of course not,
in a crowded club I activate my 5 feet emergency gay space to ensure
I never afflict the straighties with my touch) “Did you wink at him?”
(seriously, do people still wink at people?) “Did you make eye contact?”
(No sir, I know my place, I keep my eyes on the floor when around my
straight betters) “What were you wearing?” (Why, being gay I was
clad in rainbows, body glitter and stiletto heels of course! It’s
our uniform). The gay panic defence is still a nasty ugly stain on our
law and, even outside the court room, it oozes all over any interaction
with law enforcement. When we’re the victims we’re still assumed
to have instigated. And, of course “existence” is considered instigating.

Monday, November 19, 2012

I first became aware of Diaz when Something About Mary hit the screen. It's a story about a group of inept men, who have latched onto Diaz's character Mary. I have yet to see Diaz take on anything that is even remotely powerful, let alone empowering to women. Some of this could certainly be because like many actresses in Hollywood, she has been slotted into a certain category, from which there is no escape. To get an idea of what I mean, try and see if you can think of a Jennifer Aniston film, which is not a romantic comedy. This is why it is really important to dissociate actors from the roles they play. Regardless of the various privileges we know that Diaz possess, the fact that she is a woman in Hollywood means that there is a good chance that she may not have been offered better roles.

What we cannot afford to ignore are the words that Diaz says herself because they are not filtered through a Hollywood lens, which tends to devalue women.

She told The Sunday Times newspaper: "It's empowering. I'm not some young girl with the photographer going, 'Will you take your clothes off?' I'm like [mimes stripping], 'How does this look?'

"They're like, 'Today we're not going to put anything other than bras and heels on you,' and I'm like, 'These heels are not high enough.'

"I'm a woman, I know how to handle myself. I know what I feel comfortable doing and I know my sexuality."

The Bad Teacher star also thinks its "healthy" for women to want to be objectified.

She added: "I think every woman does want to be objectified. There's a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think its healthy." (source)

Intense Debate Comments

About Me

I am the mother of two darling little boys that fill my life with hope. They have inspired me to help raise awareness of the issues that plague this little blue planet.
If you are looking for a blog that is all about how wonderful and rosy this world is, turn right because this space will not be for you. I am a committed humanist. I believe in the value of people over commodities. I believe in the human right to food, clothing, shelter, and education. I am pacifist, anti-racist, WOC. My truth may not be your truth, but I intend to speak it nonetheless.
Please feel free to direct questions or commentary womanistmusings@gmail.com